Viral metaphors abound in the cultural and corporate spheres. The AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s influenced the way we spoke about the burgeoning internet technology sector – replete with computer "viruses" and "bugs" – and in doing so helped to entrench existing heirachies. The language of the Covid-19 pandemic is already infiltrating how the crisis is written about and, as Nathalie Olah argues, the way we narrate a crisis has fundamental implications for how it is seen, and who is hit hardest by its effects.
